Jordan Watch
An update and analysis of the progress, or lack of it in political, economic, social and cultural reform in Jordan.

Meeting with the King
Thursday, November 23, 2006

Yesterday I was invited to the Royal Court for a meeting with King Abdullah II but that was not linked to the government reshuffle! The meeting was a "lunch meeting" that the King asked for with representatives of the Jordanian governorates with the presence of some journalists and writers-hence my invitation- for discussing potential economic and developmental projects.
The meeting comes in a series of open discussions held by the King with local community representatives (municipalities, NGOs, universities) in the governorates. The King started by asking the invitees to present some ideas for sustainable economic development projects that can fight poverty and unemployment and he mentioned the example of the Mafraq Special Developmental Zone and said there will be some other initiatives in other areas.
Apparently, the message of the King did not sunk in.
It is very unfortunate to say that out of almost 20 speakers who each talked for 5-10 minutes with high focus listening from the king, maybe 5 people did mention some new and potentially useful ideas, for the rest it was one of the following.
1- A detailed description of a very specific problem at the family or local level, and sometimes at personal level.
2- A show-off for the speakers' CVs and experiences and uniquness unmatched by any one in the country, as if saying "Your Majesty, I am good can you make me a minister?
3- Irrelevant praise which I am sure the King is not interested in.
 
However, I do not blame them. If the governemnt was doing its work in solving local problems the King would not have to listen to problems related to wastewater treatment, roads, graveyards and transport instead of innovative development ideas. The failure of the government to acheive its practical objectives makes people anxious to raise their concerns to the King directly.
In addition, the way that Ministers are chosen for Cabinets makes a lot of people ready to use all the vocal characters they have to impress decision makers.
One of the best ideas came from Mr Tareq Masarweh who asked for the good use of "military service" to be re-introduced to make youth more involved in development projects in the field within a framework of the use of army resources in development activities.
What did I say? Nothing actually. I express myself in writing better than speaking, and I do that on daily basis in the newspaper and I thought it is better to leave the chance for others who do not have an access to express their opinion.
The meeting lasted for 2 hours, the very same day of the Cabinet reshuffle. It was my first encounter with the King and I was impressed with his listening skills and his ability to show interest and understanding foreven the most simple complaints. I just wish the circle of politicians and the government can manage to translate a lot of these initiatives into reality.

posted by Batir Wardam in Jordan Economy @ 10:27 PM

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(12) comments


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On November, 23, 2006 11:57 PM , Shaden
from Jordan said:

I really wish you participated in the discussion

On November, 24, 2006 5:20 AM , Hashmi Hashmi said:

Wa7sh

On November, 24, 2006 6:23 PM , Anon said:

"I was impressed with his listening skills".....Funny.
I wonder if you were impressed with his Arabic speaking skills.

On November, 25, 2006 4:24 PM , naturalblu
from Jordan said:

hey thats nice ;o)

On November, 25, 2006 7:02 PM , Hamzeh N. said:

Batir, did they provide you with a printed copy of an agenda for the meeting before the event? If they didn't do that and I were you I would definitely make the suggestion that they do so in the future.

On November, 25, 2006 11:22 PM , batir
from Jordan said:

Shaden: there was a great demand from people to highlight their problems and I thought it was better to give them the chance. By the way, the King has sent a letter to the prime minister today including all the demands I heared in that meeting.
Anan; The Arabic speaking skills have developed to a large extent. Some other people also need to have more determination to develop their skills in judging others.
Hamzeh there were no preprared agendas and the main aspect was opening up the discussion without streamlining the results.

On November, 26, 2006 12:53 AM , Anon said:

Good to hear that his Arabic has improved. I cannot believe that the "improved" arabic is a "plus" these days.
Anyway check back with my judgement when his majesty is able to pronounce our whole alphabets.

On November, 26, 2006 11:42 PM , Hamzeh N. said:

I hope next time there is a clear set agenda for the meeting that is sent out to all the attendees beforehand.

One step at a time we'll get there I guess.

Good luck!

On November, 28, 2006 2:08 PM , arsman said:

Did you deliver the names and IP addresses of all those commentators you considered hostile to you?

Glad your ars kissing has paid off for you.

On November, 30, 2006 10:20 PM , Batir
from Jordan said:

Well arsman I have not done this for one simple reason which is the fact that the Intelliegence department can find out any IP address it wants and does not need services from anybody and the fact that er are keeping the discussions with no one going to jail makes it a proof that you are just being hostile for no value.

On December, 03, 2006 9:17 AM , laithz
from Jordan said:

Hi Batir,

Quite an interesting piece. And like you, I too like the idea of re-introducing military service. IT will also help Jordan's youth get rid of the "FAAFI" attitude, and expecting everything to be done for them without giving back.

Another topic worth focusing on it broadband connections in the country. Speed is the source of all technological and economic advancements. It will open up doors for many new businesses and pave the way for new innovations. I cant believe that the max connection you can get in Jordan is 1MB -still not a true 1MB- while in Sweden speeds have reached 100MB. We don't want 100, 10 is good enough for the next year so that we wont be left behind.

I feel theres a price fixing mafia among ISPs that is causing our country to drag behind whe nthe world is moving at the speed of light.

The government can give tax incentives to ISPs who keep raising the bar in terms of speed.

On December, 04, 2006 1:08 PM , Adid said:

there is no study to back the conventional wisdom that military service "turns boys into men"

besides, look at countries that had mandatory military service and you will find no relationship between the service and any economic, social, or political indicator.

Fact is, in Jordan, like in many Arab countries, strategy is never backed with credible studies, it's all haphazard guess work by Munazzereen and the pseudo intellectuals of the Nezaam and who continue to contribute more to their pockets and the ruination of Jordan.



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